US teen cyber criminals get jail term

Omar Khan, 18 and Tanvir Singh, also 18, belong to Tesoro High School, the wealthy southern Orange County School in California which regularly earns a spot on Newsweek’s list of best American high schools.

Omar is accused of repeatedly breaking into his high school and hacking computers to change his grades and steal tests along with Tanvir. The crimes were unusual for Orange County, and fairly sophisticated, considering the suspects’ ages.

Omar is now being held in jail in lieu of $50,000 bail after he was accused of 69 counts and could face more than 38 years in prison, if convicted. Tanvir is accused of five counts and could face up to three years in prison. The investigation is continuing, and additional charges could be filed or additional students could be involved.

Authorities claim Omar Khan broke into the school using a stolen master key at least six times at night and on weekends between January and May. Using passwords stolen from teachers, Omar allegedly hacked into computers and changed test scores. He also installed software so he could access the system from other locations, prosecutors allege.

Though he is accused primarily of changing his own grades, prosecutors allege that he also altered the grades of 12 other students.